The Legacy of Ravi Zacharias

The Legacy of Ravi Zacharias

The Legacy of Ravi Zacharias

Christian Apologist Left Global Impact

This week’s death of apologist and RZIM founder Ravi Zacharias at the age of 74 marks the end of an unparalleled global ministry. From his humble beginnings in India, Ravi’s passionate and intellectual focus on answering spiritual questions from a biblical perspective has touched the lives of countless individuals worldwide.

"[Ravi] saw the objections and questions of others not as something to be rebuffed, but as a cry of the heart that had to be answered," said Michael Ramsden, president of RZIM. "People weren’t logical problems waiting to be solved; they were people who needed the person of Christ. Those who knew him well will remember him first for his kindness, gentleness, and generosity of spirit. The love and kindness he had come to know in and through Jesus Christ was the same love he wanted to share with all he met."

In addition to speaking worldwide on campuses, at churches, conferences, and public events, his radio program Let My People Think is syndicated to over 2,000 stations in 32 countries and has also been downloaded 15.6 million times as a podcast over the last year. Also the author of 28 books, including classics such as Jesus Among Other Gods, Ravi’s award-winning titles have reached millions of people in over a dozen languages.

My knowledge of that life is small,The eye of faith is dim;But ‘tis enough that Christ knows all,And I shall be with Him.”

None of us could have imagined just two months after reciting that last stanza that my dad would learn he had cancer and he would experience the realization of this more than 300-year-old hymn so soon. Today we affirm, as my dad recited and Baxter penned, “But ‘tis enough that Christ knows all, and I shall be with Him.” My dad, at 74, has “join[ed] with the triumphant saints that sing [his] Savior’s praise.” We who knew and loved him celebrate his life, and more importantly, his Savior.

While we mourn the passing of this spiritual giant, we stand alongside family and friends to celebrate the end of a life well lived. Ravi’s legacy serves as an example from which we can all learn, encouraging us to love the Lord "with all your mind" and living a gracious and compelling faith in a complex world.